Bright Star

The Times“Not your typical biopic of a celebrated poet and his muse...” They speak in the Morse code of forbidden love, the dots and dashes of glances and flickering eyes. Bright Star is an admirable film made by a superb craftsman, but for me, Campion fails to deliver the big emotional punch she hopes to land...

The Independent“In Bright Star, Campion really achieves the sublime...” Bright Star is not the kind of historical romance calculated to wring your tears – it has a subtler, indirect approach to feeling. It's a ravishing film, and more substantial and serious than its unashamedly lyrical beauty might lead you to think..

Time Out film“Breezy and beautiful...” The exquisite detail of the whole affair, coupled with the aerating winds of modernity that blow gently through the film, rather than the emotional pull of the doomed love affair at its heart, that are the film’s real success...

Guardian“This film looks unselfconsciously beautiful...” This heartfelt film has a nobility of its own; it draws you irresistibly into its world, and it might even trigger a new interest in Keats to match the sales of Jane Austen...

The Telegraph“It feels special without being at all precious...” We’re able to move around the film’s psychological and domestic landscapes with a freedom that most historical dramas and literary biopics are too corseted to permit us...

Channel4 Film“Campion's film is deeply sensuous...” An eloquent, well-crafted return to form - and return to corsets and period frocks - for Jane Campion, who uses the character of Fanny Brawne, the survivor, to give a unique perspective on the creative, terminal period in the life of John Keats...

Empire“No creaky costume drama...” Campion’s pacing is immaculate, and her mixing of light and shade is so subtly effective that, as the tale heads towards inevitable tragedy, it’s impossible not to be left both quietly devastated and thoroughly uplifted...

Little White Lies“Cinema without passion...” Dramatically static from first to final frame, it charts the non-progress of the central relationship as a series of nineteenth-century feints and counter-feints...

Total Film “An exceptionally intelligent, delicately made film...” Quietly shedding all the fussy baggage of ‘heritage drama’, Campion gives us a moving account of Keats’ great love and tragic death. A film of pictorial beauty and authenticity, graced with a fine cast...

Variety“Beautifully made film...” While avoiding the typical biopic template, the film nonetheless honors the facts of the central relationship, which means some typical, central audience expectations concerning emotional payoff aren't met...